Linguistics and Sociolinguistics

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Linguistics and Sociolinguistics

• Relatively young discipline , although the roots
  go pretty far into the past of linguistic
  research
• De Saussure L is a system of signs with the
  social function of communication
• Developed in response to microlinguistic
  approaches to language investigation
• Dichotomy competence performance and the
  Chomskyan view of the aim of linguistic research
  triggered different views (Hymes Ethnography of
  Speaking, 1962)
• Ways of speaking
• Communicative competence

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Further reading

• James, C. (1980) Contrastive analysis . (Chapter
  Macrolinguistic CA) Longman.
• Ðordevic, R. (1997) Uvod u kontrastiranje jezika.
  
• Bugarski, R. (1986) Jezik u društvu. Beograd.
  Prosveta.
• Coulmas, F. (2000) Sociolinguistics A Study of
  Speakers Choices. Cambridge. Cambridge
  University Press.

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• Communicative competence the knowledge of not
  only the rules of language, but also the rules of
  language use , i.e. The adequacy of use
• How and to what extent is something formally
  possible in language?
• How and to what extent is something really done
  in language?
• The knowledge of when, how and to whom is
  something said
• Later developments of the notion ? applied
  linguistics and second language acquisition
• Canale and Swain the four-component model of
  communicative competence

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• GC grammatical competence linguistic
  competence
• SL C sociolinguistic competence
• DC discourse competence
• SC strategic competence

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• It is difficult to see adequately the functions
  of language , because it is so deeply rooted in
  the whole of human behaviour that it may be
  suspected that there is little in the functional
  side of our conscious behaviour in which
  language does not play its part
• Sapir (1933)

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Sociology of Language and Sociolinguistics

• Two possible approaches to linguistic phenomena
  within the broader frame of viewing language as a
  social phenomenon
• If L is viewed and described by means of the
  apparatus of sociology ? SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE
  (e.g. Joshua Fishman) and it is part of
  sociology
• If functioning of L is viewed and described
  taking social factors into consideration ?
  SOCIOLINGUISTICS (e.g.W.Labov)

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• A possible and rather broad definition which
  tries to unite the diverse kind of inquiry which
  go under the name of sociolinguistics
• Sociolinguistics is that branch of linguistics
  which studies just those properties of language
  and languages which require reference to social,
  including contextual, factors in their
  explanation. (Downes, 1998 9)
• Sociolinguistcs is a study of speakers
  choices (Coulmas, 2000)
• Micro and macro choices

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• Micro-choices are made under the influence of
  factors like
• Social stratification
• Gender
• Age
• Cultural factors politeness

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• Macro-choices are made under the factors that
  affect society as awhole
• Code-switching
• Language planning
• Diglosia
• Etc.

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Some terminology of SL

• Language - rather rarely used , for the reasons
  of the term being laden with evaluative and
  emotional conotations
• Code neutral term
• Variety neutral term reflects the complexity of
  language depending on the function the variety
  performs
• Social class and roles, gender, age, profession,
  urban or rural culture, etc
• sociolects (working class variety, upper-middle
  class variety, urban varities , etc)
• Women talk vs men talk , sexolects , sexism in
  language
• Professional varieties, doctors talk, legalese,
  argot ? ESP in FLT/L
• Teenage slang, baby talk, secret languages
• Dialect geographically /regionally delineated
  variety
• Variant geographically/ regionally delineated
  variety that has been standardized and adopted as
  a norm ? any dialect stands a chance of becoming
  standardized

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Also relevant in SL research

• Medium written vs spoken
• Register functionally determined (professional
  registers, professional terminlogies functional
  varieties of language)
• Style formal vs informal
• Medium register and style are interrelated
• E.g. Teenage slang spoken- informal
• university lectures - spoken formal
  (academic)

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Intralingual and interlingual contrastive
researches

• Contrastive research may be done within one
  language only
• Contrasting varieties and variants of one
  language
• Examples substandard varieties standard
• Labovs contrasting of the variety spoken by
  Afro-Americans in 60s with the standard variety
  in US
• Bernstein in UK in 70s elaborated and
  restricted codes in school children
• Trudgill in UK working class women working
  class men
• Aim and purpose integration of certain
  populations (usually marginalized) into
  mainstream education system, labour market etc.
• Dialectal varieties with the standard etc.
• Variant1 of L Variant 2 of L American English
  British English
• 
  E variant of SH W variant of SH
• 
  Austrian German Swiss German

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Intralingual contrastive research

• Variant of L1 variant of L2
• Variety of L1 variety of L2
• e.g. Contrastive analysis of Communicative
  Competence (English and Serbian) of Serbian
  Students of English
• Results may be represented as
• Absolute correspondences
• Partial correspondences
• Zero relations